How damaging?

With his supporters providing moral support, Vice President Jejomar Binay finally answered the accusations of corruption against him yesterday.

As expected, he denied the charges and insisted that the construction of the Makati parking building was aboveboard. He said funding for the project was appropriated annually, with disbursements subjected to annual state auditing.

All witnesses against him and his family have an ax to grind, Binay said. The witnesses’ stories, from the legal point of view, can be dismissed as hearsay, he argued.

That sounded like the lawyer in him talking, and his rebuttal seemed like one meant for presentation in court. Not the “kangaroo court” – as Binay described it – set up by his political enemies at the Senate, but the Sandiganbayan, where the Office of the Ombudsman may file charges in connection with the parking building if not against Binay himself, then against his relatives and their aides.

His accusers sneered at his “motherhood” denials. The accusations may turn out to be true, but there are neutral observers who agree about the kangaroo court tag. Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano and his partner in the probe, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, launched the probe not to ferret out the truth or in aid of legislation. They concluded a long time ago that the project was anomalous and the Binays are guilty, and all that was needed was a platform to tell the nation about it.

Apart from Cayetano’s well-known clan feud with the Binays, he has also announced plans to seek the presidency in 2016, wherein the frontrunner so far, according to surveys, is the Vice President. Trillanes, meanwhile, is known to be eyeing the vice presidency.

The Binay camp is also chafing over the blessings given to the probe by Senate President Franklin Drilon, a stalwart of the Liberal Party (LP), whose presumptive standard bearer is languishing in the polls.

It’s unlikely that the LP standard bearer will get a ratings boost from the Senate probe of Binay. Cayetano may also risk a backlash from his negative tack against a rival. Going negative in this country can pull down the target but rarely benefits the direct purveyor.

But Cayetano and Trillanes will probably achieve some success in pulling Binay down. And with all the media coverage, Cayetano has surely improved his name recall, although it’s doubtful that he can dislodge other potential candidates such as Sen. Grace Poe from their perch. Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago may rate higher than Cayetano.

The results of third quarter surveys will come out in October, so we’ll know the impact of the probe soon enough.

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Binay is not the first frontrunner in a presidential race to face blistering fire from potential rivals.

Another vice president, Joseph Estrada, also made no secret of his plan to run for president. Candidate Erap saw everything thrown at him including the kitchen sink. Serial philanderer, gambler, alcoholic – he was linked even to the disappearance (still unsolved) of a Pagcor employee suspected of leaking a video during the 1998 campaign, showing Erap playing high-stakes poker in a casino VIP pit. Erap laughed off all the scandals, used criticism of his English to endear himself to the masses, and coasted to a landslide win in 1998.

Such attacks can have a serious impact on a prospective candidate who has built up an image as Mr. Clean. We’ve seen several candidates in the past who fell by the wayside because of this. But Erap never saw the need to apologize for being a man who loved wine, women and bacchanalia. He never claimed to be Mr. Clean.

To a certain extent, neither has Binay. Rumors of corruption have hounded him and his family for some time, and graft charges were filed years ago. Yet the people of Makati keep sustaining the Binay dynasty, and a national constituency sent him to the second highest office in the land.

But Binay must do more to confront rumors against him and his relatives squarely, if he wants to maintain his lead over potential rivals in 2016.

That LP spiel about picking a successor who can continue President Aquino’s reforms along the straight path or daang matuwid is clearly aimed at Binay.

The spiel isn’t gaining traction because the scandals over the pork barrel, the Disbursement Acceleration Program and extortion in the Metro Rail Transit 3 have given the impression that daang matuwid is losing the moral high ground.

P-Noy is also seen to be protecting friends accused of wrongdoing or seen to be incompetent. That “walang iwanan” battle cry is starting to look more like his erring Cabinet officials telling him he can’t fire them, rather than him telling them not to abandon him.

Even P-Noy’s hope of seeking a second term is damaging to daang matuwid (and the LP, since it was first proposed by its president-on-leave). P-Noy seems unable to comprehend why even those who supported him would not want the Constitution amended to give him six more years in power.

He is also sending confusing signals about his spare tire, saying Binay must let the truth prevail, while at the same time praising the VP’s performance as the Cabinet man in charge of housing and overseas Filipino workers.

Since the Senate probe on Binay began, a common question is how damaging it can be to his 2016 prospects. The answer will depend on what will be the overriding public concern. Will corruption be at the top of the list? Jobs? Prices? Traffic? Criminality? It will also depend on the virtues of the alternatives.

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FROM THE MIAA CHIEF: Reacting to my column on airports, General Manager Jose Angel Honrado of the Manila International Airport Authority wrote to say that the success or failure of a government official in his job “is influenced by factors sometimes out of his control. This is a given assumption once one accepts the responsibility.”

On the NAIA 3 arbitration, he wrote: “Like the rest of the world, the Government is equally wanting to see the end to this issue. Meantime, we are left with no choice but to wait and hope that all efforts to obtain a final settlement will not be in vain.”

On immigration officers at the NAIA 3: “(Immigration) Commissioner (Siegfred) Mison no less, informed me that he has initiated the acquisition of more passport reading machines and hiring of more immigration offices to address their increased requirements in NAIA T3. With these in place, the process will become faster and more convenient for passengers queuing up to be cleared.”